Tim Hudson fell behind 2-0 in the first inning, but hung in there for 5 innings. The Giants kept battling at the plate and the bullpen shut it down after Huddy left. Key Lines:
Hunter Pence- 2 for 5, 2B, 3B. BA= .290. Again, Pence is not a conventional leadoff hitter, but a double and triple will word from any spot in the lineup.
Gregor Blanco- 1 for 4, BB, SB(11), Assist(3B). BA= .237. Blanco had a nice little game truncating one Mets' rally with a nice throw to nail Lagares at 3B and a single followed by a SB to set up the winning run in the 9'th.
Buster Posey- 0 fof 1, 4 BB. BA= .287. Did Buster have a good eye at the plate, or were the Mets pitching around him? If it was the latter, it didn't work as Pablo Sandoval made them pay.
Pablo Sandoval- 3 for 5, 2 2B. BA= .280. Pabs drove in the first two Giants runs and the game winner. Both hits came after walks to Posey. Nice game for Pabs!
Joe Panik- 3 for 4, 2B. BA= .231. Panik did not figure in the scoring, but helped the Giants offense by getting the lineup back to the top quicker and at the top of innings. Panik went to college at St. Johns and had a bunch of family and friends in attendance. Another nice game!
Tim Hudson- 5 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 2 K. ERA= 2.74. Huddy hung tough after giving up the 2-run dinger to Murphy in the first inning. He got the game to the bullpen who shut it down the rest of the way.
Bullpen- 4 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K's. This is what a rested bullpen can do for you. On top of that, the Giants still had Affeldt, Machi and Petit all rested in case the game went into extra innings. The Mets were down to 2 guys who went more than 1 inning yesterday.
The Win moves the Giants to 2 games back of the Dodgers in the NL West pending the first game of the Freeway Series tonight with Garrett Richards facing Zach Greinke. The Giants also assured themselves another day in the lead for the #1 Wild Card playoff spot.
The Giants now go to Beer Town where Tim Lincecum will face rookie Jimmy Nelson in the first game.
PS: The Dodgers lost to the Angels 5-0 so their lead over the Giants is now 1.5 games. The Cardinals and Pirates were both idle so the Giants lead for the first Wild Card playoff spot over them is 1 and 1.5 games respectively.
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It's official, Cain having surgery for bone chips, ready for next year's ST. I like the Peavy trade a lot more knowing what the Giants were looking at.
ReplyDeleteThat was Panda's best game in some time. Great to see him stinging the ball. The game winning double was a nice oppo jobby, he was looking that way a lot. Made a nice throw out at home to boot. Panda gets hot and Pagan comes back strong the Gints should be in business.
Those Dodger injuries are starting to pile-up! Maholm is now down with a torn ACL and Chris Perez was placed on the DL with ankle bone spurs.
ReplyDeleteI wish the Giants would have tried a little harder to pry Murphy away from the Mets. Panik may have a bright future but Murphy seems to be blossoming into a pretty solid player who would have fit right in at the top of this lineup. He probably could have been a back up plan as well at 3B if Pablo ended up leaving next year. When is Pagan coming back?
ReplyDeleteMurphy would have been a great acquisition. I would have been happy if the Giants acquired him even at a steep cost in traded prospect(s). Put him at 2B, and once Pagan is back, you have a serious lineup!
DeleteWould you have been okay with a straight Kyle Crick for Daniel Murphy trade?
DeleteYep.
DeleteI realize I'm in the minority, but I just don't see the need to make that kind of splash. Panik had a great minor league season, and Duffy is around the corner. I think you let Duffy bake in Fresno, and Panik start going forward. He won't be worse than anyone and could be a lot better than everyone we put out there.
DeletePersonally, while I understand the line up envy, I think Belt's re-insertion into the lineup is really going to be a difference maker. With him there, Morse isn't playing every day, and I think he's worn down. He's also a great bat once he gets going, which he will. Add Pagan to the mix, and our offense should be fine. The problem will be pitching not scoring runs, so why go for broke when you're not fixing the problem.
As for pitching, even if Cain comes back (which we can hope he does), we have two aces, one guy who may be a "come back of the year" but is still close to 40 and Timmy as our 4 some. Even if we resign Peavy, that is a very dicey rotation, and I'd rather have all my cards in AAA (Blach, Fleet, Blackburn and Crick) than trading for immediate gratification that probably doesn't end up changing anything. And if Cain comes back, coupled with our young guys, we could be very special next year if Panik then fills our gaping hole at 2b. Then we just need to find long term solutions for LF and 3B (btw, Doc, how about moving Duffy to 3rd in AAA and see if he can hang there).
I agree with you about 2B. No sense in trading our top prospects for a guy like Daniel Murphy. I much rather take my chances with Panik which is cost controlled for years. I would much rather trade a top prospect for a replacement at 3B, LF or P.
DeleteI think we put ourselves in a position where we have to resign Pablo. Hopefully no more than 4 or 5 years. There is just nothing out there that can be plugged in an produce similar numbers. We cannot be like the Angels the last few years and put a Alberto Callapso like player there and expect any results. Unless they feel guys like Dominguez or Delfino will be able to take over and just get a temporary fix for 1 year.
I do not think resigning Peavy is the answer. I am sure in free agency or a trade can land us someone who is an upgrade from Vogelsong.
Panik might be very adequate at 2B, and possibly better. On the other hand, I don't think you can reasonably expect the kind of production from Panik the rest of the way that you would get from Murphy. If the Giants really want to go for it this year, and I see no reason why they should not, I think you make the trade, even if it is for Kyle Crick.
DeleteI would add, though, that we do not know that Murphy was available at any price or if he was that Alderson would take a pitcher. Alderson has plenty of pitching. He needs to get at least 2 hitting prospects for every hitter he gives up in trade, so he might prefer something along the lines of Panik + Adrianza or Panik + Mac Williamson or some package like that.
Giving up Crick for Murphy doesn't say much about the Giants' farm system. At least giving up Wheeler got the Giants big star...
DeleteWith Beltran, the Giants were getting just the 2 months of service. Murphy's contract is under team control through 2015. BIG difference! I honestly doubt that Murphy was even available. The Mets have a good pitching staff and Alderson may well feel that he is 1-2 hitters away from a playoff team. Murphy may well be a big part of his plans for 2015.
DeleteMurphy is a star on the rise. The guy will develop power and could move to 3B if needed. This is the type of player the Giants need to be targeting since they don't sign high priced free agents or develop a ton of offense. Panik is a nice player but we already have a soft hitting left handed SS and to commit to another one at 2B full time is a little risky.
DeleteThis is a good win...coming back twice, first down 2-0 and then 3-2 after 6. That's resilience. The big bats are responding to the challenge, with Pagan soon to be back, perhaps during the Brewers series.
ReplyDeleteGiving up 1, 2, 0 and 3 runs in the series, that's good work...against any team, yes, even the Mets. Hope we keep it going in Milwaukee, with a pretty rested bullpen.
One of the Giants drafting MO's under John Barr is to take former highly rated prospects whose stock dropped for one reason or another. It's quite possible that Barr has been in on Slater since his HS days or even earlier.
ReplyDeleteIMO it doesn't make sense to have Duffy in SF as a bench player. Panik is a little more polished and should play everyday. Duffy should be in Fresno getting AB's everyday.
ReplyDelete@Roger-
DeletePanik is basically an extremely solid player, with a disciplined bat and solid in the field. It's a known fact that the Giants didn't believe he would play SS at the top, however, and accordingly moved him to 2B.
Conversely, the Giants have played Duffy at SS through his entire minor league stint. Most reports I've seen are that he has smooth action with good range, a great glove, and a solid arm, and the Giants believe he can play the position at the top. And his bat has more than proven itself. All of that tells me Duffy is at least as polished.
Just wondering what your statement is based on- have you seen both play in person?
What position they can play has nothing to to with how polished they are.
DeleteI agree "polished" was the wrong word. I was referring to Panik having more professional experience with over 700 more AB's than Duffy. I actually could care less which of Panik or Duffy gets the starter nod because I really like both players. My point was why keep one of them on the bench. Why not send one of them down so they can play everyday.
DeleteI think the plan is to platoon them plus find extra PT for Duffy by having him spell Crawford and Pabs at times.
DeleteNo way the Giants send another top pitching prospect to the Mets. Sabean would be hung by the fans!
ReplyDeleteMost fans are not very smart.
DeleteMartin Prado just cleared waivers. Could be a decent guy for the playoff push and he is signed through 2016 and can play 3B if Pablo leaves. Do the Giants pick up the phone?
ReplyDeleteThe Yankees got him just last week for Obrien and a player to be named later.
DeleteNot really understanding why they would do this.
In any case, for comparison, looking at Obrien's combined A and AA 23 2B, 33 HR and 70 RBI, at age 24, I wonder what do we have to give up....Duffy and Hall? More than that? Less?
The Yankees are still in the playoff race so I do not see them trading Prado, especially after they just traded for him.
DeleteTeams also tend to put anyone and everyone on waivers just to try to judge interest on the player for a future offseason move with him.